Ichinokura Hanaemu Junmai

Ichinokura Hanaemu Junmai (一ノ蔵 花笑む純米酒) is a traditional Yamato kotoba (an ancient Japanese word meaning "flowers bloom," a term long cherished in Japan). Like a bud beginning to open, its faint bitterness evokes a light, youthful freshness. It is best enjoyed either at room temperature or lightly chilled. The Kurano-hana (蔵の華) sake rice was selected to capture both the elegance of spring and a clean, crisp flavour. It pairs well with simmered bamboo shoots, wakame seaweed (wakatake-ni), tempura of spring seri herbs and mountain vegetables, and butter-soy sauce stir-fried spear squid (yari-ika).

Ichinokura Brewery (株式会社 一ノ蔵) is located in Ōsaki, Miyagi Prefecture, some 30 kilometres northeast of Sendai. In 1973, four sake breweries - Asami Shoten, Kachiki Shuzoten, Sakurai Shuzoten, and Matsumoto Shuzoten - merged to form Ichinokura Co., Ltd. The Matsuyama area of Ōsaki is in the centre of the Sendai Plain. Matsuyama has been well known from the old times for its fine-quality rice and has prospered as an agricultural and brewing town. Over 90% of the rice Ichinokura sake brewing is grown locally in Miyagi Prefecture. The brewery first began by securing growing contracts with local farmers. Starting in 2004, it established its own in-house Agriculture Department to promote sustainable agriculture, minimise the environmental impact, and help support local farmers through cultivating fine-quality rice. Ichinokura is growing its rice and aims to develop fine-quality rice that is best suited for sake brewing. Water is a raw ingredient that makes up 70-80% of sake and is, therefore, one of the essential elements in determining the taste of sake. Ichinokura has a drilled well on the brewery premises, bringing up underground water from a depth of 100 metres. There are 40 brewery workers at Ichinokura, under the supervision of the brewery tōji, who use the techniques of the Nanbu Tōji School to brew fine sake entirely by hand.

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